CHENNAI: Amid the commotion over the demonetisation of `500 and `1,000 notes, political parties and pro-Tamil outfits are charging the BJP-led NDA government of imposing Hindi and Devanagari numerals in a sneaky manner in the newly-introduced notes.
The Constituent Assembly, formed to draft the Constitution, decided to use only international numerals in currencies and not Devanagari. Later, the Official Languages Commission, 1955, stated that Devanagari numerals could be introduced only after a constitutional amendment, but they could only be used in Hindi publications, if necessary. Political parties charge that the NDA government had given a go-by to the norm by introducing Devanagari numerals in the new notes. Moreover, the Swachh Bharat message is printed in Hindi, without a translation.
PMK founder S Ramadoss said that while the Centre’s move to demonetise `500 and `1,000 was welcome, using the sensitive situation to impose Hindi was condemnable. “For the first time since Independence, Devanagari numerals have been used on rupee notes. But no permission has been sought from Parliament nor has an Ordinance been promulgated. The Central government has acted unilaterally on this issue,” Ramadoss said.
The PMK leader added that decades ago, the Constituent Assembly had a discussion on which numerals should be used in the rupee notes. When Angappa Ramalinga Chettiyar, one of the members of the Assembly, raised concern over the relation between Hindi and Devanagari numerals, it was decided that international numerals would be used for banks and other purposes.
“The Official Languages Commission recommended that Devanagari numerals could be used only in Hindi publications, depending upon the need. The Commission also said Devanagari numerals should not be used for 15 years after the country became a Republic and after that a constitutional amendment should be brought in for using them. Without doing so, these numerals had been introduced on rupee notes. Since the new notes are against the Constitution, printing of them should be stopped,” he added.
Thamizhar Panpattu Naduvam secretary Rajkumar Palanisamy said, “India does not have a national language — only Hindi and English as official languages. According to Section 343 (1) of the Constitution, only international form of numerals should be used for official purposes of the Union government. Hence, the use of Devanagari numerals on the notes violates the Constitution.
“If the Centre decides to use Devanagari numerals on rupee notes, it should also use Tamil numerals. Giving an exclusive privilege to the Devanagari script is tantamount to treating other languages with lesser importance. The Centre should remove the Devanagari numbers immediately or also use numerals in Tamil and other languages on the rupee notes,” he added.
Political parties in Tamil Nadu charge that the Swachh Bharat message on the new notes is printed only in Hindi, with no translation in English or any regional languages
The BJP-led NDA government is under fire from politicians in the state for printing Devanagari numerals on the newly-introduced J500 and J2,000 currency notes, ignoring languages such as Tamil